The Assignment
by Yakaji
Summary: The Asia Branch plays host to three exorcists on assignment to retrieve an innocence fragment: Chaoji Han, Allen Walker, and Lenalee Lee. Bak sees an opportunity, but before he can make his move, he needs SOMEONE to take Allen out of the equation.
1. Bak Chang's Little Problem

_A/N: In honor of 8-8-08, a little bit of love for the East Asia Branch._

* * *

**The Assignment**

_Chapter 1 - Bak Chang's Little Problem_

* * *

"Lou Fa, what the heck are you doing?" The voice of Bak Chang, Director of the Black Order's Asia Branch, boomed out of the intercom and echoed around the lab.

Lou Fa went rigid at the sound, dropping her pen. It bounced against the desk and landed on the piece of paper she had been using. The nib leaked slow drops of black ink, ruining her composition.

"No- nothing, Director. Just w- writing some… Umm… D- did you need something, Director?"

"Yes, Lou Fa. Come to my office right this instant." The intercom clicked off, but the sound of Bak's voice continued to ring in her ears.

With fear twisting her stomach in knots, Lou Fa left her lab and ascended the stairs to the Director's office. She knocked hesitantly and jumped as Wong pulled the door open.

"There you are, Lou Fa!" The Director was sitting in his cushioned chair behind a long mahogany desk that, as always, was covered with reports from different departments of the Asia Branch Office. "Come over here. I have a project I want you to help me with. Wong, could you please see that our preparations are in order for the exorcists' arrival? I don't think I'll need your services for the next… oh… say three hours?"

Wong folded his arms and bowed. "Yes sir, Master Bak." He slipped from the room silently, pulling the door shut behind him.

Lou Fa walked to the desk, still nervous. In the pale glow of the security screens that lined the room, everything seemed ethereal and washed-out. The unnatural light did nothing to calm her stomach.

"Well, Lou Fa, I don't know if you're aware, but we have a party of exorcists coming to visit our headquarters for a few days. They're here to investigate what may be an innocence sighting in Shangdong province."

Exorcists? Lou Fa pressed her hands to her stomach to keep it from roiling. "Do you… do you know who will be coming, Director?"

"Yes, actually. Komui Lee called me this morning and gave me all the details. We're going to have three of them: a new exorcist named Chaoji Han, Allen Walker…" Her heart skipped a beat. "…and Lenalee Lee."

There was a droning noise, but Lou Fa's mind was racing. _Oh, what am I going to do? When does he get here? Will he want to see me? Does he even remember me? Where are they going to be sleeping? Are they all going to be sharing a room together, or…_ She blushed as she realized where her thoughts were heading.

"Lou Fa? Have you been listening to anything I've said?"

"Oh… Um… Sir?"

Bak sighed, his face falling melodramatically. "I said that we've only got a little time here, and that I need your help."

"My help, Director? With what?" Why couldn't something reassuring happen to Lou Fa? Why did everything just seem to make her nervous. What could Bak Chang possibly want from a new recruit like her?

"Two things. And you must never speak to anyone else about the things I'm about to tell you. Can you promise me that?"

Lou Fa opened her mouth to respond, but found that her teeth were starting to chatter. She clamped her jaw shut and nodded in the affirmative.

"Well, Lou Fa… I saw the way you act around Allen Walker the last time he was here. I saw those little scribbles you put on your lab reports, too. I've been meaning to talk to you about that, actually – you know it's really not proper to draw pictures like that on official Black Order documents."

Lou Fa felt light-headed. She wasn't sure whether she was blushing or whether all color had just drained from her face. Bak Chang looked at her and coughed in surprise, turning his eyes back to the papers on his desk.

"Yes, well. I know how you feel about him, Lou Fa. It just happens that… um… Oh God, not the hives again…" Bak began to scratch at his arms, his voice coming out in a rush. "Well it just happens that I feel the same way about Lenalee, and you must never ever ever tell anyone, because if you do…" He pressed both hands to the desk, panting, trying to calm himself. "I… I need your help."

The Director felt the same way about Lenalee that she herself did about Allen? Somehow the thought that Bak Chang was human, just like her, finally did manage to calm her nerves a little.

"You see, Lou Fa, in all the new pictures I've… I mean… I've started hearing reports that maybe Allen Walker is taking advan… that maybe Allen Walker is also interested in Lenalee. Well, that's just not… I can't let him… I mean, I want you to..."

All the words seemed to catch in Bak's throat. Lou Fa took another step toward the desk. "Director, if there's anything I can-"

Bak Chang lurched to his feet, hardly appearing to notice her. His eyes were closed, and his voice boomed around the office. "Lou Fa, this is your new assignment, to last as long as the exorcists are stationed in Asia Branch: you are to do everything in your power to seduce Allen Walker and make sure that he has no interest whatsoever in Lenalee!"

Oh, no. How could she sed… sedu… seduce…? She opened her mouth to respond – she wasn't exactly sure what she was going to say – but as her lips parted, all the breath seemed to leave her body. Lou Fa's eyes rolled upward, and she fainted dead away.

* * *

Two eyes stared out from the darkness behind the Bak's chair. Baka Bak hadn't seen her. He never saw her when she didn't want to be seen.

Lou Fa would seduce Allen Walker? Fou wanted to laugh. How could a girl like Lou Fa seduce a man like Allen Walker? The exorcist belonged to Fou. Not Lou Fa. Not Lenalee Lee. Allen Walker belonged to Fou.

She phased back into the wall, leaving Bak alone to try reviving his pitiful little helper.


	2. Three Rooms

* * *

**The Assignment**

_Chapter 2 - Three Rooms_

* * *

Lou Fa rubbed her hands together nervously as she waited in the cavernous entryway. The Director had said that Allen (and the other exorcists) would arrive at precisely 6:00am. They would be using the Ark to travel from the new headquarters.

_The time difference is minus-seven hours, right?_ Lou Fa checked the twin watches on her left wrist again. One read 5:58. The other, the one set for Allen Walker's time zone, told her it was almost eleven at night where he was. _They'll all be tired. Ready to go right to sleep._ The Director had made arrangements for each of the exorcists to stay in a separate room. That would make her job easier. Her job.

Lou Fa could hear the Director's words echoing in her head again, just like she'd heard them echo since the moment he gave her this assignment. Y_ou are to do everything in your power to seduce Allen Walker and make sure that he has no interest whatsoever in Lenalee._ But how was she supposed to do that?

A crackling noise brought Lou Fa's attention back to the room. Black energy sparked through the air, resolving itself into a vertical line. The line seemed to rotate, revealing a dark hole that hung in the air. And then He stepped through.

Allen Walker was the most beautiful man on Earth. His silvery hair fell around his his face, obscuring his good eye. The jagged scar over the other eye might have been scary, if it weren't for the smile that he always wore. This was the first time Lou Fa had seen him in his new uniform, too. It made him look much sexier than before.

"Are you here to show us to our room?" The silkily feminine voice surprised Lou Fa, who had to look around for its source. Just behind Allen was a young woman dressed in the same tight black exorcist gear. Lou Fa had only met Lenalee once before, after Allen Walker had captured the Ark from the Noah.

"Ah. Um. Your rooms? Yes. C-can you follow me, please?" Mentally, Lou Fa cursed herself. This wasn't how she wanted Allen to see her – hesitant and stuttering.

"Rooms?" Lenalee queried. "I thought we were going to share a room, the three of us. We don't want to inconvenience you any more than necessary. Though I suppose, if there's space, Chaoji could stay with our equipment and Allen and I could share the other room." She gave Allen a very warm smile.

Lou Fa felt her cheeks go red. She turned away to keep Allen Walker from seeing her. "No! No, we have plenty of space here. You'll each be given your own room."

"That's really not necessary," Lenalee replied. "Allen and I are perfectly happy to slee-"

"AND," Lou Fa broke in, "we want to run some more tests on Alle- on Mr. Walker's Innocence, now that we have him back. So we've arranged for all of you to have separate rooms! Now, if you'll please follow me!" Without glancing back, she hurried down the hall. The sound of boots clacking against the stone floor told her that the exorcists were following.

Lou Fa walked in silence, trying to gather her thoughts. She had to get Allen alone, and then she could try…. She could try to…. Lou Fa swallowed down the butterflies in her stomach. She could try to seduce him. But first, she had to get rid of the other two exorcists.

It was only a short walk to the room set aside for Chaoji Han. Lou Fa showed the way, and then opened the door for Chaoji. He thanked her quietly and slipped inside, carrying two cases that bore the logo of the Science Division, tools for the exorcists' innocence recovery mission.

"Mr. Han, please remember to bring the equipment to our labs later today so that we can perform final calibrations before you leave." Lou Fa tried her best to sound commanding. She wanted Allen to think of her as confident, not the shy wallflower he might still remember from his time with the Asia Branch.

As they left Chaoji's room behind, Allen finally spoke. "Y'know, it feels like such a long time since I was here trying to recover my Innocence. But I suppose it hasn't even been a year yet. I thought that I'd remember the Asia branch better, but I guess I was wrong. Where are we right now, Lou Fa?"

Lou Fa blushed again, hearing her own name on his lips. "Aa-ah… we're… we're right by the kitchens now. B-but I'm not sure you were even in this wing of the complex before, Mr. Walker."

Allen laughed. "Now that sounds more like the Lou Fa I remember. So how are you getting settled in? You were still pretty new here when I arrived, weren't you?"

Lou Fa opened her mouth to respond, but Lenalee's voice cut in before she could find an answer.

"Hey, Allen. Don't you think it would be nicer to have a room around here – close to the kitchen and all?"

"Oooh. That does sound good. Maybe I can get some more mitarashi dango!"

"B-b-but!" Lou Fa spluttered. "But your room is over by the Science Division, Mr. Walker!"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Lenalee chided. "Allen is perfectly welcome to stay in my room."

"A-ha! But your room only has one bed!"

"That's fine. I don't mind sleeping wi-"

"No, Lenalee," Allen cut in. "Lou Fa is right. I don't want to make you share with me, not when we can all have our own rooms."

"But Allen, I like sharing with you. You know how cold it can get when I'm all alo-"

"WE'RE HERE!" Lou Fa's shouted, wrenching open the door to the room that had been prepared for Lenalee.

Lenalee poked her head inside, peering around. "Sure! There's plenty of room for two in here. Allen, you'll stay here with me."

Allen stepped to the door himself, squeezing in beside Lenalee. "Naaah, that's okay. I don't know if we'd really be comfortable sharing. I'll just go with Lou Fa. It'd be nice to be by the kitchens, but it's not a big deal. Won't hurt me to... to…." A gigantic yawn overtook Allen, cutting him off. "Yaa, sorry. I guess I must be pretty tired."

Lenalee shot a quick glance at Lou Fa, her eyes narrowing. "Well, Allen, if you don't want to share rooms… why don't we switch? I don't mind. I have a few… questions… I'd like to ask the Science Division myself. Questions… ah, from my brother. So if you're tired, why don't you stay here, and I'll go take the last room. And then, when you wake up, you can go get some mitarashi dango from the kitchen. Maybe they'll even make you some soba. I know how hard it is to get any back at Headquarters."

Fighting back another yawn, Allen nodded. "I suppose that'd work. Okay. I guess I can trade with you, Lenalee." Allen pushed by, entering the room. "Oh, Lou Fa, you said the science department wanted to run some more tests on my Innocence?"

"Y-yes, Mr. Walker! Ah… um…."

"When would you like me to stop by?"

"Oh. Ah. Maybe… I guess… this afternoon? Is that good?"

Allen waved his hand absently as he walked toward the bed. "Sure, sure. See you then, Lou Fa."

Lenalee grabbed the door and pulled it shut before Lou Fa could react. Then the exorcist gave her a toothy smile. "Well, then. Do you think you could show me to Allen's – oh, I mean MY – room?"

"Ah. Yes, Ms. Lee. Um. Right this way."

_Darn it,_ Lou Fa thought to herself. _I never even got to be alone with him! How am I supposed to seduce Allen Walker like this? And it would have been such a perfect chance, him tired and me helping him 'settle in'…_ She hurried along the corridors, anxious to finish with Lenalee. _Maybe I can go back, once I'm done with her. Maybe he'll still be awake._

"Mmmm, I'd forgotten how warm Allen is," Lenalee said suddenly.

"Ah. Ms. Lee?"

"Oh, nothing. Sorry. I didn't mean to distract you. Just, when he brushed by me in the doorway, when he touched my, y'know…" Lenalee ran her hands over the form-fitting contours of her uniform. "He's so warm. But then, I don't suppose you'd know about that."

Lou Fa felt her face go scarlet. "Um. Well. Your room, Ms. Lee, I think it should be right over-"

"It feels so nice, when he touches me. We had to sleep together once, on a mission, you know. To conserve body heat and all that. We shared the same bed at the inn where we stayed. Mmmmm. You know, his hair is so soft. Running your fingers through it just feels wonderful."

Lou Fa knew her face was growing redder by the second, but she still turned to look at the other woman. Lenalee was smiling that same toothy smile, staring off into the distance as if she was remembering. Then, in a flash, her eyes snapped back to Lou Fa, transfixing her.

"You said his room was here?"

Lou Fa turned away again, hiding her face. She nodded quickly and pulled open the door to another set of empty quarters – this one larger and more well-appointed than the last.

Lenalee glided past her, surveying the room. "Oh, this will do nicely, I think. I'm so glad Allen wanted to trade with me." She turned back, her eyes latching onto Lou Fa again like an eagle hunting a mouse. "It was very nice talking with you… Lou Fa? If there's anything else I need, I'll be sure to let you know. Now I'm very tired myself, so if you wouldn't mind leaving me alone…."

As Lou Fa bashfully pushed the door closed again, she heard a soft hiss from inside. "And one other thing. Stay away from Allen Walker."


	3. Lab Work

* * *

**The Assignment**

_Chapter 3 – Lab Work_

* * *

It was nearly evening by the time Allen Walker wandered into the Asia Branch Science Division. His snow-white hair stabbed out at odd angles, and his exorcist coat hung askew. He raised one gloved hand to his mouth, shielding a cavernous yawn. He kept blinking, like a night creature caught out under the bright fluorescent lamps of the laboratory.

Somehow, it all made him even more attractive to Lou Fa.

She swiveled her chair to face him as Allen tottered over. "Y'said you wanned to see me?" he asked.

Her stomach fluttered uncontrollably. She was grinning at him. She knew she was grinning. Lou Fa forced her face back to normalcy. Maybe he was too groggy to notice.

"Y-y-yes, Mr. Walker. You had t-to leave right after your innocence reactivated the last time you were here. We have your activation data from headquarters, but we w-would like to reexamine you here, with the equipment we'd calibrated to you during your reactivation training."

Allen nodded heavily and lurched forward toward the machinery at the center of the lab.

"Ah! W-wait! Mr. Walker!" Lou Fa leaped from her chair, grabbing onto his arm to stop him. "We... we do a lot of research here, Mr. Walker. Not just about exorcists and innocence. Director Bak had all the testing equipment we used on you moved to one of the small labs, where it wouldn't get in the way of the rest of our work. C-can you follow me, please?"

She slid her hand down his arm and slipped it into his, twining her fingers with Allen's own. The contact made a block of ice form in Lou Fa's chest. But Allen either didn't mind her hand or was too tired to notice. Silently, she guided him toward a small white door on the west side of the expansive main laboratory.

In reality, the Asia Branch Science Division did not do a great deal of research. Most of the Black Order's research and development work was headquartered at the central branch, under the authority of Science Chief Reever and Director Lee... Thinking about Komui Lee reminded Lou Fa of Lenalee, who was hopefully still asleep in her room. She repressed a shudder, remembering Lenalee's menacing admonition for her to stay away from Allen.

In reality, the Asia Branch did not do a great deal of research. But Director Chang had arranged to have all the innocence-testing equipment, still calibrated for Allen, moved to a small-study lab to assist with Lou Fa's new assignment. Past the white-painted door, Lou Fa led Allen into a rectangular room partitioned by a thick glass wall. On the side nearer the door, an L-shaped desk was strewn with cables, small electronics, and two large computer terminals. Past the glass wall, in the other half of the room, there were two rolling medical carts, a few aluminum folding chairs, a treadmill, and a steel shelving unit weighed down with odd-shaped metallic devices. Long, thin wires dangled from the ceiling in various spots throughout the space beyond the wall.

The Director had made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that Lou Fa was supposed to seduce Allen Walker. Just thinking about her orders brought heat to Lou Fa's cheeks. She had no idea how to seduce a man, especially not a man as strong and smart and beautiful as Allen. And she did not dare to imagine what might happen if she actually succeeded in seduci....

"Are you all right, Lou Fa?" Allen was staring at her, suddenly fully awake. She felt light-headed. Her eyes drifted down his body of their own accord, and she imagined what he might look like if he was not wearing... Her knees started to tremble.

Allen let go of her hand. She tried not to sigh. He whipped off his glove and pressed his palm to her forehead. Lou Fa closed her eyes and took a deep breath, drinking in the feel of his skin resting against her own. It was like sparks dancing all over her body.

She opened her eyes again as Allen's hand pulled away. "No, you don't seem to have a fever. But you look flushed. Lou Fa, if you aren't feeling well, I can come back for these tests later."

"No! N-no... No, Mr. Walker, I'm fine. Just f-fine." Two more deep breaths, in and out. There. Now she really did feel fine. "We should do the examination now, before you have to start on your assignment. It will be most convenient for both of us if we can get these tests out of the way now." She grabbed a clipboard off the desk and scurried to a sliding glass door inset into the glass wall, gesturing for Allen to follow her.

On the other side of the partition, Lou Fa led Allen to the treadmill at the center of the room. "We'd like to start by collecting some baseline data on your current physiological condition, Mr. Walker. That will help us compare your new data to the old data we gathered the last time you were here. So..." Lou Fa gulped, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose and hoping to hide her nervousness. "So, Mr. Walker, please remove your jacket and shirt."

Allen nodded nonchalantly, sliding his shiny black jacket off his shoulders and pulling his undershirt over his head. Underneath, his chest was pale and toned, with a wide scar running all the way from his collarbone to his waist. Lou Fa licked her lips.

"Now, Mr. Walker, could you please mount... th-the treadmill?" She could feel her cheeks flushing again. He was so beautiful. And she was supposed to seduce him. Oh God, she was actually going to do it. Lou Fa set her clipboard on one of the aluminum folding chairs and walked over to the treadmill. Putting one arm on the treadmill grip for support, she eased up on her toes and grabbed onto a bundle of the wires hanging down from the ceiling. The wires terminated in electrostatic sensors, tiny metal discs smeared with a reusable adhesive the Science Division had developed. They were ideal for measuring muscle activation and blood flow in the human body.

With the wires in hand, Lou Fa stepped onto the treadmill with Allen and leaned back against the instrument panel at the front, facing him. He seemed taller, now that she was almost chest-to-chest with him. With her left hand, she tenderly smoothed back the hair that fell in front of his eyes. As she pressed the first two sensors against his forehead, Allen shivered a bit from the contact of the cold metal. Lou Fa found it difficult not to stare at the inverted star etched above his left eye.

Slowly, she worked her way down his body. Her fingers traced across his skin as she set the sensors at all the major muscle groups. She took her time. Lou Fa's mission had nothing to do with testing Allen Walker's innocence. She was supposed to make him interested in her. That's what the Director had ordered her to do. And men liked to be touched, didn't they? She thought they must. There were so many times when Lou Fa had imagined Allen Walker touching her like this. The thought made her hands tremble.

Lou Fa kept her eyes glued to his chest, to the spots where she was affixing the sensors. She could not dare to look at his face. She knew she must already be blushing, just from what she was doing to Allen. And she could feel his eyes on her, boring into her like augers. She could not dare to meet those eyes.

Her hands trembled again, harder than before. Her whole arms shook. She couldn't be doing this, not with Allen Walker. _You're only prepping him for the treadmill_, a little voice said. _There's nothing to be bashful about._ But it felt like so much more than that. Lou Fa forgot herself and leaned her head back, looking up into his eyes.

Allen stared down at her, expressionless. She had never seen him look so serious, so inscrutable. Those eyes... She could become lost in those eyes so easily. Why was he just staring at her? Did she do something wrong? Was he upset with her? Lou Fa's knees wobbled, buckled, and she fell forward against him. Her arms twined instinctively around his chest to keep herself from falling. A hand rested gently against the back of her head.

Electric crackling rattled from the wall beside where the steel shelving unit stood. Lou Fa's head whipped around, and she saw Fou slide out of the rock and materialize. For a second, Fou's eyes settled on Lou Fa with an expression she could not describe, and then Fou turned to Allen. "So that's where you are. You come all the way to China and you don't even bother to say hello? What sort of man are you, Allen Walker?" She sounded angry, but then Fou always sounded angry.

Allen turned toward Fou with a smile. "I'm sorry. We were all so tired when we arrived, we just went straight to bed. Then Lou Fa told me the Science Division needed to run some new tests on my innocence, so as soon as I was awake I came down here. Lenalee and Chaoji are probably still asleep. We didn't mean to avoid you or anything, Fou."

"New tests on your innocence," Fou mused as she floated toward the treadmill. Lou Fa hurriedly pushed herself back from Allen and jumped off the treadmill. Something about Fou scared her just now. For some reason, she felt like she'd be safer away from Allen. How odd.

"Well, I still haven't had anything to eat," Allen offered cheerfully. "If you'd like, you can join me in the cafeteria after Lou Fa gets done running her tests. You can tell me all about what's been happening in the Asia Branch since I left." Allen gave Fou a warm smile. Lou Fa found herself wishing he would smile that way at her.

"That sounds like a great idea! Why don't you run along to the computers, then, Lou Fa. I can take care of the sensor hook-ups from here." Fou's lips split into a wide, toothy grin that made Lou Fa think of a wolf preparing for the kill.

"Um. Y-y-yes. W-w-why don't you help get Mr. Walker ready for the tests, Fou? I-I'll just… just…" For some reason Lou Fa's eyes seemed to be watering. "I'll just run along to the computers," she finished weakly.

"You do that," Fou chimed as she floated into the space at the front of the treadmill where Lou Fa had been standing a moment before. As Fou began fixing the sensors Lou Fa had disturbed when she'd almost toppled into Allen, the white-haired exorcist looked down and smiled.


End file.
